Tip-off led police to guns in garden shed

POLICE found a sawn-off shotgun and a pistol in a garden shed after a tip-off.

William Taylor, 30, said he found a rucksack containing the weapons – and four rounds of ammunition – while riding his motorcycle.

He now faces a possible five years in jail after admitting breaches of the Firearms Act which carry a minimum sentence unless there are "special circumstances".

Solicitor advocate Stuart Carson, defending, said he would try to persuade judge Lord Kinclaven to be more lenient when Taylor appears for sentence next month.

At the High Court in Edinburgh yesterday, advocate depute Graeme Jessop, prosecuting, told how police searched Taylor's home at Castlebrae Rigg, Edinburgh, on 19 October last year and found the rucksack in a rickety garden hut.

Unemployed Taylor, who has a lengthy record for minor offences, was remanded in custody.